As a Liberal, he served in cabinet as chairman of the Board of Management[2] from 1987 to 1991 and then as Minister of Agriculture in the government of Frank McKenna from October 9, 1991 to April 25, 1994.
Subsequently, he was the last Speaker of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly to be appointed by the government rather than elected by a secret ballot.
Shortly thereafter the House adopted new rules to elect the speaker by secret ballot.
He was re-elected in six subsequent elections in 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1987 and 1991 in what became Madawaska Centre and served until 1995 as an MLA when he was defeated in the riding of Madawaska-la-Vallée.
In 1997 he was appointed to the provincial forest products commission[3] and also served as president of Enterprise Madawaska and chairman of the St. John Valley and Eastern Quebec Energy Committee.